How Choose a topic of interest, spend a little time researching it, have a discussion then publish the notes.

Why The main benefits are the fostering of a greater understanding of the world before we die and hopefully, to prompt further thought and discussion from our listeners.

The topic we will be discussing in this episode is Near Death Experience

Topic Overview

The state of death, as it is commonly understood, is substantially defined by the fact that nothing ever returns from it. As risk abounds, individual organisms often narrowly escape Death's icy fingers as a feature of life. During these close encounters, is it possible to experience the threshold? Could such near misses afford glimpses of what may lie beyond? Is there any evidence to back up the claims and if so, how was it conducted and what does it suggest?

Off-topic

What we’re not talking about

Erasure

Talking Points

Each bullet is a talking point. Sub-bullets are topics that may or may not be covered. Usage: Read the bullet and sub-bullets then talk about some or all sub-bullets.

Definitions

NDE ‘An unparalleled visionary experience of light, peace, and joy reported by some people while in a critical state of unconsciousness.’ - OED

Anita Moorjani, author of Dying to be Me, NDEer ‘After fighting cancer for almost four years, Anita Moorjani crossed over into the afterlife and miraculously came back to share her experience’ £8.24, paperback, Amazon. http://www.anitamoorjani.com/

Accounts

Eben Alexander, neurosurgeon and author of 2012 best seller 'Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife'

Before NDE: Sick, out of work and slapped with a $3m malpractice lawsuit

‘During my coma my brain wasn’t working improperly—it wasn’t working at all. I now believe that this might have been what was responsible for the depth and intensity of the near-death experience (NDE) that I myself underwent during it. Many of the NDEs reported happen when a person’s heart has shut down for a while. In those cases, the neocortex is temporarily inactivated, but generally not too damaged, provided that the flow of oxygenated blood is restored through cardiopulmonary resuscitation or reactivation of cardiac function within four minutes or so. But in my case, the neocortex was out of the picture. I was encountering the reality of a world of consciousness that existed completely free of the limitations of my physical brain.

‘Mine was in some ways a perfect storm of near-death experiences. As a practicing neurosurgeon with decades of research and hands-on work in the operating room behind me, I was in a better-than-average position to judge not only the reality but also the implications of what happened to me. Those implications are tremendous beyond description. My experience showed me that the death of the body and the brain are not the end of consciousness, that human experience continues beyond the grave. More important, it continues under the gaze of a God who loves and cares about each one of us and about where the universe itself and all the beings within it are ultimately going.’

‘I saw the abundance of life throughout the countless universes, including some whose intelligence was advanced far beyond that of humanity. I saw that there are countless higher dimensions, but that the only way to know these dimensions is to enter and experience them directly. They cannot be known, or understood, from lower dimensional space.’ - Proof of Heaven (emphasis added)

From Science Daily‘In 2008, a large-scale study involving 2060 patients from 15 hospitals in the United Kingdom, United States and Austria was launched. The AWARE (AWAreness during REsuscitation) study, sponsored by the University of Southampton in the UK, examined the broad range of mental experiences in relation to death. Researchers also tested the validity of conscious experiences using objective markers for the first time in a large study to determine whether claims of awareness compatible with out-of-body experiences correspond with real or hallucinatory events.’

From The Independent‘Life after death? Largest-ever study provides evidence that 'out of body' and 'near-death' experiences may be real’

Death is a process not an event University of Michigan study:

Surge of Neurophysiological Coherence and Connectivity in the Dying Brain’ (2013) [Full text]

‘The brain is assumed to be inactive during cardiac arrest. However the neurophysiological state of the brain immediately following cardiac arrest had not been systemically investigated until now.’

Heaven

Revelation, 7:9‘After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,’

Quran 13:23‘Gardens of perpetual bliss: they shall enter there, as well as the righteous among their fathers, their spouses, and their offspring. Angels shall enter from every gate (with the salutation): 'Peace be with you, that you persevered in patience! Now how excellent is the final home!’

Movies

Flatliners

The 6th Sense

The Lovely Bones

When Dreams May Come

Ghost

Beetlejuice

Between Two Worlds

Cloud Atlas

Hereafter

Kundun

The Fountain

Glossary

Terminology specific to the topic

Death The act or fact of dying; the end of life; the permanent cessation of the vital functions of a person, animal, plant, or other organism. - OED

Clinical death In the medical dictionary, this is redirected to Death.

Delusion The action of befooling with false impressions or beliefs; the fact or condition of being cheated and led to believe what is false. - OED

Hallucination A perception in the absence of external stimulus that has qualities of real perception.

Illusion The state or condition of being deceived; misapprehension.

Wrap Up

Details about site, contacts, next show: Cinema

Outro music choice - something open source or out of copyright so we don’t get sued